Live music review: Toronto Psych Punks Wine Lips at 29th Street Ballroom
Touring costs keep climbing, the tariffs keep stacking, and the U.S. is barely on speaking terms with its neighbors. Add corruption and wars nobody asked for. You’d forgive a Canadian band for skipping the U.S. leg of their tour. Toronto psych-punk risers Wine Lips came down anyway, keeping up a regular Austin habit with one of their best visits yet. Their opening slot for Death From Above 1979 got scrapped, and they still landed at 29th Street Ballroom, a few blocks off the UT campus, on Monday, October 19. With TV Dinner, a new album that doesn’t ease off the party one bit, 2026 has been shaping up as the year nothing slows them down.
Illinois slacker-rock trio Heathers had the opening slot to themselves. Singer-songwriter Heath Michael Thomas leads the band, and they play like they just rolled the amps out of somebody’s garage: loose, scrappy, and proudly DIY. The place was still filling when they started, but each song pulled a few more people toward the stage. By the end of their set, the room was ready to come apart for Wine Lips.
Wine Lips started in 2015 as a duo: singer and guitarist Cam Hilborn and drummer Aurora Evans, who still write most of the songs. Guitarist Andrew Donofrio and bassist Wesley Martin filled out the lineup later, and each album cycle has made the live show tighter and harder to shake. Five studio albums in, with ties to Levitation’s Reverberation Appreciation Society label, they’re no strangers to Austin.
Wine Lips wasted no time. They opened with “Cut It,” the first track on TV Dinner, then reached back to Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party for “Tension.” The pit was moving from the first song; a Monday night wasn’t going to keep Austin from moshing. Super Mega Ultra favorite “Stimulation” followed. After a quick hello, they dropped the small talk and tore through “Get Your Money,” “Projector,” “Trip to the Doctor,” and “Fingers.” Evans’ backing vocals carry more weight than you’d expect, giving the songs a riot grrrl snarl that rounds out the band’s sound. Everyone loves a singing drummer.
Then came “Eyes.” For a lot of fans, it was the first Wine Lips song they ever heard, and it showed: the pit started spinning the second the opening chords hit. Three more new songs followed: “Thirst Trap,” “Head On Backwards,” and TV Dinner lead single “Semi Detached Furnished Home.” Evans took lead vocals for “Six Pack,” still drumming the whole time. It’s a beer-crushing anthem about nothing but the next round, and it’s the closest Wine Lips come to a FIDLAR keg party.
A set highlight came with Evans back on lead vocals for “Fried V,” the fifth entry in a series that runs back through earlier records. Like any good part five, it hit with Empire Strikes Back force. “Suffer the Joy” stretched into a long psych jam, with every member taking a turn in the fuzz. They kept the tempo high and the reverb thick before the whole thing collapsed into a wall of noise.
“Choke” closed out an hour that never let up. It was another rowdy Austin night from a band that keeps coming back louder and tighter. Indie touring barely pays anymore, and the U.S. keeps giving foreign bands new reasons to stay home. Wine Lips showed up for the fans. The real ones always do.
Wine Lips continues down the road this Fall before wrapping things up in Canada in December. Tickets can be found via the Wine Lips website.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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